yesterday

/ˈjɛstərdeɪ/
the day before today

I saw an amazing movie yesterday.

This refers to the day before the current day.


general

the day immediately before the present day

She called me yesterday to discuss the project.

This means she called the day before today.

Yesterday was a rainy day.

This describes the weather conditions the day before today.

Yesterday is a temporal adverb that refers to the previous day.

Collocations

yesterday morningthe morning of the previous dayyesterday afternoonthe afternoon of the previous dayyesterday eveningthe evening of the previous day

Related Phrases

the day before yesterdayphrase
two days before the present day
day before yesterdayphrase
two days before the present day

Pro Tip

Common Usage

Yesterday is often used in casual conversation to refer to recent events or actions that occurred the day before.

Gold Rule

Temporal Reference

Yesterday always refers to the day immediately before the present day, not any other day in the past.

Word Origin

From Middle English 'yester-day', from Old English 'ġisterdæg' (literally 'evening of the day before'), from 'ġeostor' (yester) + 'dæg' (day).

Usage Notes

Yesterday is always used to refer to the day before the current day. It is not used to refer to any other day in the past.

Word Breakdown

yester
the day before
prefix
+
day
a 24-hour period
root
English Dictionary